A Splash
by Genevievevictoria
Summary: Mertalia AU. Lovino is a prince who is sent on a mission before he can marry the royal from a neighboring kingdom. Along the way he meets Benjamin, who should be his enemy, but gives Lovino a new purpose other than following the orders of his father.
1. Chapter 1

Lovino swam around in his cave, thinking out loud about a shit storm he was sure was about to happen, his tail thrashing around a bit, the colors ranging from purple-red, to blue as it caught the light. His father had been preparing for weeks his arranged marriage with a royal from a neighboring mer-kingdom, but the family of the royal he would be meeting would probably send him on a quest for some sort of treasure to give to them before handing over their child to be in the same shitty situation. Lovino detested that he had to do it to ensure the future of the kingdom. He started swimming to the main throne room and mentally prepared for what he was sure was the end of the rest of his life one way or another.

Upon entering the room his father, the king, and the neighboring kingdom's king were talking and made a gesture to each other to show they had sealed the deal. All the while, floating in the corner silently was the mermaid he would be married to.

The mermaid seemed to be male but Lovino didn't mind too much, he found he was attracted to a lot of people so he didn't have much of a preference. The person had short chocolate brown hair that seemed to curl slightly and their eyes were like giant peridots, they also seemed to be about Lovino's height with his tail being a deep ruby red, all-in-all they were fairly attractive. Unfortunately for Lovino, they would have no time to get to know each other before their marriage.

Lovino's father seemed to get clued in to him floating in the entranceway and he was waved over to meet the king and the prince, who also swam over, from the neighboring Kingdome. "Lovino, this is King Hispania and his son Prince Antonio." He introduced. He then turned to the two and motioned to Lovino. "And this is my son Prince Lovino." He said.

The man that Lovino now knew as king Hispania swam a bit closer to him. "It is very good to meet you. As you know, before the marriage you need to go on a quest to get my son's hand since it is your kingdom that will be taking over ours." He explained.

Lovino nodded. "I know. I have prepared for it."

The man nodded. "Good, then here's what you need to do. There are rival kingdoms to the north that have been moving further south and invading our fishing grounds. We can't do anything because of a treaty but in a sunken ship there is a valuable jewel that I want before they find it. Bring it back to me and our kingdoms can join together with you and Antonio's marriage."

Lovino sighed. That was a tall order, especially since the kingdoms to the north have been described as savages. "Yes, sir. I will do everything in my power to get it or die trying." He promised.

Lovino started swimming to leave but was stopped by Antonio who handed him a gold necklace with a green jewel at its center. "This is a token to remember me by." He claimed. Lovino nodded to him then left. He went back to his room and sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. He picked up a shoulder-strap bag that he had packed with essentials, then he grabbed a knife he could use to hunt with after that he started swimming north, away from his home and into the unknown.

After traveling through open ocean for a while, Lovino stopped to catch some fish and some clams. He ate his lunch and settled down to rest for a bit. He closed his eyes and snoozed, only to be woken up by the sound of rock being moved next to him. He woke up and looked around, not seeing anyone immediately.

Lovino grabbed his bag of stuff and swam to shallower water, near an underwater cave. By his mark he was probably an hour swim away from where the treasure would be, he would have to take his time and be careful to sneak close enough to collect it and still make it home with his life.

He had just settled down again when he heard a noise again. He looked over and in a sudden flash he had been tackled. All Lovino could make out was a rainbow tail and dirty blonde hair.

Rope was tied around Lovino's wrists and attached to his tail to the point where he couldn't swim away. He looked around in confusion and was confronted by a merman from one of the Northern tribes.

The merman had a tail like opals that sparkled rainbow colors, he was on the lean side and his dirty blond hair was parted in a way so that his bangs covered one of his striking jade green eyes.

"What the fuck?" Lovino said, trying to pull against the rope he was tied up in.

The unknown merman looked at him with suspicion. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Lovino bit his lip. "I am Lovino…and I am an explorer." He quickly said.

The strange merman rose and eyebrow at him and started pulling him to the surface.

"What are you doing?!" Lovino gasped out, trying to swim back down. "You'll kill us if you go up there!"

"Calm down. I'm just bringing you up to make sure you can't get away while I question you." He was told. The merman surfaced and dragged them both onto the beach. Lovino flailed around but started to calm down as he realized he could breathe.

"Good. Well since you introduced yourself, my name is Benjamin. You sit there while I get stuff together." He rolled away a bit and grabbed a towel from a hidden hole on the beach. He started drying himself off and suddenly his tail split into two and formed human legs and feet. Benjamin suddenly looked very human.

Lovino tried to back away but suddenly made a noise of confusion as his tail split and legs formed for him as well.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Lovino said. He was panicking now, not sure what was happening.

"Calm down would you? You're being a distraction." Benjamin had suddenly stood and was putting on clothes. He walked over to Lovino and tied him to a tree. "Now I'm going to ask you some questions and you're not going to leave here until they are answered."

Authors note:

Benjamin is Luxembourg

I hope to try to update this frequently but I'm not sure on how fast it will be

Commenting would be greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

Lovino struggled against the ropes, trying to reach the knife he had in his bag next to him. He glared at Benjamin who was lighting a fire and humming as if everything about this was casual to him.

"What the hell do you want?" Lovino said, not letting up on his glare.

Benjamin shook his head and sighed. "God, you're impatient. " He sat down next to the fire and hummed happily at the heat. "I want to ask you questions."

"Like what?" Lovino muttered. "Why should I answer any questions of a kidnapper?" He spat out at him.

Benjamin tsked at him. "Because you are suspicious and I need to protect my family from suspicious characters."

Lovino frowned deeply but didn't say anything.

Benjamin poked the fire a bit. "Now, I don't believe you're just an innocent adventurer. What are you after? Riches and treasure perhaps?" He rose and eyebrow at Lovino. His question was answered with more silence from the Mediterranean merman.

"You're from the Southern Waters, are the people finally getting mad over the war?" Benjamin asked.

"There's a war?" Lovino said, very confused.

Benjamin stood up. "How the hell do you not know about it? I have to live every day of my life on high alert because of it!" He moved closer to Lovino. "Who exactly are you?"

Lovino looked down. "I am Prince of the Roman kingdom." He muttered.

Benjamin jumped back as if he had been burned by Lovino's words. "The devil kingdom sent its own Devil son right to our doorstep? And he is a weak and pathetic… I should kill you now just to save my family from any more trouble."

Lovino looked at him with a scared look.

Benjamin shook his head. "I won't though, that would just create more problems and I just want the war to end…" He sighed deeply.

Lovino looked back down at the sand. "So what are you going to do with me?"

Benjamin shrugged. "I could always send you east. If you cooperate I'll loosen the ropes and maybe show you around."

Lovino scoffed. "You're an idiot. Why would I want to be around you and more than I have to?"

Benjamin hugged. "Well you don't have any choice so you might as well."

Lovino pouted down at the sand. "I hate you." He spat out.

Benjamin smirked. "And I hate you."

The northern merman started cooking on the fire while Lovino watched. The Mediterranean wiggled around a bit and Benjamin sighed and loosened the ropes a bit. "If you run I'll catch you." He was told.

Lovino sat and twiddled his thumbs together. Only to look up when a plate of food was pushed in front of him.

"Eat." Was all Benjamin told him.

Lovino picked up the food and started eating. He'd never had cooked food so it was weird, but he was too hungry to care.

"I guess I'll show you how to walk so I can make you go to the human town." The Germanic said.

Lovino looked up in surprise. "The human town?"

Ben nodded. "When we have legs like this there is no way for them to tell us apart from their own. We'll be safe and we can see what they're doing."

Lovino looked down at his new legs and stretched them out a bit, the he reached down and ran a hand along his toes. He thought that maybe he could get away from the other in the human town. He nodded to the other, trying to show he was cooperative.

Benjamin spent most of the day showing Lovino how to walk and Lovino was starting to pick it up quickly. He could move in a sort of waddle but he still had balance issues. He made a frustrated sound when he fell down for what felt like the millionth time.

"You'll get used to it." Be told him. "Let's just go back to the water for now. I know a cave we can sleep in until morning so the humans don't find us sleeping on the beach."

Lovino nodded. So much walking practice tired him out. He just wanted to curl up and sleep until late the next day. He groggily followed the Northern merman back into the water and watched as his tail came back very quickly. He swam to the cave and passed out from exhaustion as soon as he was in.

Authors note: So this took a bit longer than I would have liked but it's here. Thank you to those that reviewed! It definitely gave me more energy to keep working on this!


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, something jabbed Lovino's side and he woke up with a start. He looked around quickly only to see Ben smirking at him. "Rise and shine sleeping beauty." He handed Lovino a few clams and a fish he had caught. "Eat your breakfast and we can go walk again."

Lovino looked at the food and started eating. His kidnapper was a weird one. Although Lovino was intrigued by him as well.

When he was finished they both swam up to the surface and sat on the beach while their tails dried out and turned into legs. Lovino stood but his muscles hurt a lot and he winced.

"Oh, that'll happen. You're using those muscles in a different way than you ever did so you're getting muscle mass to be able to walk better. That's a good sign." Ben told him.

Lovino didn't think it was good and just groaned and sat down. "Doesn't feel good." He muttered.

Benjamin just shrugged. "You'll get over it." He started packing a bag and handed Lovino clothes. "We're going into town so suck it up and put that on."

Lovino frowned and looked at it. He started to dress himself like he was seeing Ben do but he didn't have the balance. He kept falling over. After a few minutes he threw the clothes on the ground in anger and sat with his arms crossed in anger. "Fuck this."

Ben tutted at him. "Here, I'll help." He picked up the pants. He lifted one of Lovino's feet and slipped a pant leg over, he then did that with the other foot. Ben then raised the pants up and buttoned them, laughing at Lovino's blushed face. "Calm down. We would never be able to go if I didn't help."

Lovino looked away in embarrassment. "What if I don't want to go?" He asked in a defiant tone.

Benjamin gave him a dark look. "I could always report you to the northern kingdom." He threatened.

Lovino's eyes widened and he shut his mouth. "W-Whatever…" He put a shirt on. "Where is this town anyway?"

Ben pointed in a direction. "It's a few kilometers that way."

Lovino had no idea what that meant so he just nodded.

Ben got him to stand and they both started walking together. Lovino got tired quickly so they kept stopping for breaks and Ben was getting antsy about them wasting the day.

"God you're so slow." Ben complained.

Lovino just shrugged. "Fuck you. I didn't choose to go on this walk."

Ben huffed. "Why am I even doing this again?" He muttered.

Lovino just kept a scowl on his face.

After what felt like forever to Lovino they got to a paved road. Lovino stopped to stare in awe. "What is this?" He asked.

Ben looked down. "It's a road. Humans use it to make traveling easier." He stepped on it and Lovino followed.

Lovino kept looking around with his shock-and-awe face. Everything was new to him. He kept asking questions and got new answers for things. He learned about cars which were ground boats. He learned about the money system humans had. He even learned that courting a mate was different.

"So how to they show they like someone?" He asked.

Ben chuckled. "There's no set way to do it. Sometimes they give gifts but other times they just say it out in the open before anything happens."

Lovino hummed in thought. "W-Why is this world illegal for us?" He asked sadly.

Ben did not give him an answer for this question, he just kept walking.

Lovino could see the town up ahead and he got nervous. What if this was a trap? What if Ben abandoned him here? What if he's really just going to be handed over to the northerners?

The Italian's mind raced with the possibilities, but suddenly he was drawn out of his thoughts when Ben pointed something out.

"Looks like there's a market! Let's go check it out!" Ben started walking quicker, making Lovino stumble and walk quicker to follow him.

"Slow down!" He shouted.

Ben didn't seem to hear him and kept walking, and soon Lovino lost him in the crowd.

All of his anxieties came back and he wrapped his arms around himself in a sort of soothing self-hug. "You should have fucking seen this coming Lovino. You're such an idiot. Why would a northerner do anything with you?" He kept muttering. He wasn't looking where he was going and he accidentally ran into someone. He made a startled sound and looked up at the person.

"Hey!" The stranger said. "Watch where you're going!" He looked down at Lovino and Lovino gasped at the pair of red eyes that stared holes at him.

The stranger was albino. Which explained his eyes and complexion. But he was also tall and a bit muscular, but not too much to the point where it would be overkill. The problem was, was that Lovino was staring at him like an idiot and was opening then closing his mouth like a fish, not knowing what to say.

"Hey man? Cat got your tongue? Or are you just surprised by my good looks?" He said with an accent and then winked. Suddenly Lovino stepped away and blushed.

"No! I'm just trying to think of a way to tell you to fuck off." He defended.

The man chuckled. "Suuure you are." He looked all too amused at the Italian. "What brings you here to the awesome me then?"

"None of your business." He claimed stepping away.

"Aww, don't be like that. I'm sorry okay. Let's start over?" The man said. "I'm Gilbert."

Lovino looked at him suspiciously before finally answering. "My name is Lovino…"

Gilbert smiled. "Lovino." He repeated, testing the name out. "I like it. Say Lovino, you seem new to this place? Don't you have a guide?"

Lovino paused and sighed. "Nope. He's gone."

Gilbert seemed to smile more. "Perfect! Then the awesome me can show you around this place. What do you say?"

Lovino looked around at the crowd of people streaming by them, all too busy with their own thing to give them a sideways glance. Honestly, what did Lovino have to lose? He was already abandoned here. "Sure…Why not." He responded.

Gilbert grinned wider. "Hella! Come on, I can show you around the market." He grabbed Lovino's arm and started showing him around, dragging him from place to place.

Gilbert kept stopping at the market stalls with cute stuffed animals in them, but Lovino kept getting distracted by the jewelry the humans had access to. All his life he had been told that the human were primitive and could never be close to the craftsmanship of the mer-people.

Gilbert saw Lovino eyeing up the Jewelry and hummed. He talked to one of the sellers and bought something. Then poked the Italian to get his attention. "Come on, I'm hungry. We can go to my favorite place and I'll even pay." He smirked.

Lovino just nodded, feeling tired from the whole thing.

Gilbert dragged him off again, going towards a different set of buildings on the waterfront.

Authors note: Hope you guys like this one! My other chapters have been getting good feedback and I had the energy to write this so I hope you like it! See you next time!


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